Deutsch im Blick

Reviewed by Pia Kostner, Instructor of German, University of New Orleans on 2/8/17

Comprehensiveness rating: 4

The text includes a wealth of vocabulary, so much so that students might feel overwhelmed by it, especially since there are two vocabulary sections per chapter. I’m not sure how useful the vocabulary at the beginning of each chapter is to understanding the content of the videos or written excerpts that follow. All grammatical structures that are normally included in a first-year German textbook are covered in “Deutsch im Blick,” although some areas ought to be covered more thoroughly and perhaps with more examples.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Set mostly in Würzburg, the text is clearly focused on Germany. Switzerland and Austria are mentioned but not discussed in much detail.
I found the discussion on the various German dialects refreshing since dialects are still an integral aspect of German culture but are usually only mentioned in passing in other textbooks.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The publication is several years old and thus does not include references to the latest political/cultural developments in Germany, notably the refugee crises and the rise of right-wing populism in Germany and Europe. However, since it is web-based, it would be fairly easy to update the book’s content and incorporate recent events/developments.

Clarity rating: 4

In general, the grammar explanations on the Grimm companion website are clear and concise and are followed by relevant examples, although I find the examples too complicated at times for a beginning-level German student. And while the use of fairy tales and fairy tale characters is innovative and amusing, it adds yet more new vocabulary.
Also, some grammatical structures should be explained in more detail. For instance, I found the explanation on word order in declarative sentences especially superficial. It’s not enough to say that basic declarative sentences in German follow subject-verb-direct object word order. There is a section on adverb placement later on the Grimm Grammar companion site but I think it would be beneficial to link that to the word order section for a more comprehensive explanation.
I also found many of the early activities in the textbook and on the Grimm companion website too difficult. The authors often use structures not yet discussed and, more importantly, use unfamiliar vocabulary.
For example, in chapter 3 of the Grimm companion site, students are asked to negate nouns with a form of “kein” but the translations/genders of the nouns they are supposed to negate are left out. The same is true in chapter 5, where students are supposed to fill in the blanks with an appropriate possessive determiner but have no way of knowing the gender of the noun it modifies.
In the textbook, students are asked to incorporate modal verbs in personal questions/answers in chapter 3 but modal verbs are not formally explained until chapter 4.
And while authenticity is great, some of the texts in the early chapters, are way too advanced for students to understand. An example would be the article about the “Eiscafé” in chapter 3.

Consistency rating: 4

For the most part, the book is consistent in its use of terminology. A minor point: There are variations on spelling of “essen.” Sometimes it spelled as “ißt,” in the book but this variation is not mentioned on the Grimm Grammar companion website in the section that explains the conjugation pattern for the verb “essen.” The variation in spelling is explained in chapter 3 but only after students are asked to use it in an activity. This could be confusing to a beginning learner. It would be helpful if the authors included a note to explain this variation early on and also mentioned that with the spelling reform of 1996, many words that were formally spelled with an Eszett are now spelled with double “s.” This obviously does not pose a problem as long as there is an instructor to explain this but as more and more colleges and universities move to online language instructions, clarity is essential.

Also, the authors use the terms conversational past and present perfect interchangeably. In the section “Verbs,” on the Grimm Grammar site, it would be helpful if it were made clear that both terms are used to refer to the same tense.

Modularity rating: 4

Instructors should have no problem assigning different units within a given chapter as they are clearly outlined on the chapter index page. Though, as pointed out elsewhere, it might be preferable to print out the chapters in order to avoid having to scroll up and down the pages to complete a given activity.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The book is well organized and clearly structured. The chapter topics build on one another and grammatical structures from earlier chapters are reviewed and practiced in later ones. The layout is pretty clear and consisted and should pose no problems for students and instructors. I was a little surprised by the sequencing of the grammatical structures. Two-way prepositions do not appear until very late and neither the genitive case nor adjective endings get much attention.

Interface rating: 4

The quality of videos was generally pretty good, though I had issues with the sound at times. Especially those recorded in public spaces can be hard to understand.
I found it a little cumbersome to have to go to the end of a chapter to access the videos and scroll back up to complete the activities. Also, perhaps my barcode reader is too sensitive but it often read the wrong video and it took several tries to get the correct one. I realize that the video clips are accessible from the chapter index site but it would be great if the links were embedded within the chapters, next to the activities that require them.
The book would furthermore be more user-friendly if it incorporated an interactive platform rather than pdf format. To complete the activities within “Deutsch im Blick,” students need to print out the chapters.
I also found that the interactive exercises on the Grimm Companion website have too little variation. It would be a good idea to include more than just “true/false” and “fill in the blank activities.” The authors mention technological limitations but I’ve been using interactive platforms that allow for a more varied exercise format for many years now.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Except for a few typos I found no major errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Apart from the interview with a Döner-Imbiss owner and the chart documenting immigration patterns to Germany, the text does not include much information on residents with other racial or ethnic backgrounds. But since the text mostly focuses on the experiences of American exchange students in Würzburg, this omission is understandable. The book provides a wide spectrum cultural experiences that would be of interest to any student interested in studying in Germany.

Clearly, a lot of thought and work went into developing this book. I think the authentic material is great, even if it's difficult at times. I could see myself using this book in my on-campus classes but not for my online courses.
An online homework component that is easy to grade would be very much appreciated.
Finally, I think the short video segments of UT-Austin students are great and will hopefully encourage other American students to study in Germany for a semester or year.